My time as a Deliveroo rider was liberating — not exploitative
I never meant to ride for Deliveroo. When I moved to London last July to work as an economic researcher in a new startup firm, I thought that was my career up and running. But life can take strange...
View ArticleSecondary ticket markets are good for fans and good for performers
Some people no doubt welcomed the news that Ticketmaster is closing down its secondary ticketing websites as an end to rip off prices for the next live music concert or big sporting event that they...
View ArticleIs it time to scrap the Nobel Prize in economics?
William Nordhaus and Paul Romer are worthy winners of this year’s Nobel Prize in economics. Both have done ground-breaking work, the former on the long-term macroeconomic impact of climate change, and...
View ArticleThe Conservatives would be rewarded at the ballot box for making work pay
If the Conservatives want to win the next election, then they are going to need a story to tell voters that will appeal not only to their minds but also to their hearts. There is no point making the...
View ArticleAfter 40 years of liberalisation, China still has a long way to go
Saturday December 22 will mark 40 years since China began its long march of economic reform and opening up. The particular anniversary is of the end of the 3rd plenary session of the 11th Central...
View ArticleHarry Potter and the economics of the wizarding world
Over the Christmas period you may well have settled down to watch one of the Harry Potter films. I, like millions of fans have always loved the series and have often imagined what it might be like to...
View ArticleLet’s make the special relationship great again
“The United States is our greatest ally. It is the foundation of the Alliance which has preserved our security and peace for more than a generation”. So said Margaret Thatcher in the House of Commons...
View ArticleJRR Tolkien and the economics of Middle Earth
I recently raced one of my friends to see which of us could read The Lord of the Rings fastest. Sadly, I was pretty comprehensively trounced. But it got me thinking. As a hugely popular work of...
View ArticleLabour’s four day week fantasy
The recent Labour party proposal to reduce the working week to 4 days (or 32 hours), without loss of pay, is probably a seductive one for many people. After all, who wouldn’t want to reduce the amount...
View ArticleWhat the inequality data don’t tell you
Yesterday’s report into the high pay of executives, and its finding that the average FTSE 100 chief will earn per hour almost 120 times what the average employee will, has once again thrust inequality...
View ArticleIt’s time to scrap APD and bring in a carbon tax
It’s fair to say the Government’s plans to allow Flybe to defer its Air Passenger Duty payments have been met with a mixed response, with British Airways already launching a legal challenge to try and...
View ArticleJane Austen, the accidental economist
It is a truth universally acknowledged that every few years a new adaptation of one of Jane Austen’s works must be released. The latest offering is a new adaptation of Emma, to my mind the funniest and...
View ArticleThe private sector is key to vanquishing the virus – and winning the peace
As the old saying goes, “never let a crisis go to waste”. And there’s certainly good evidence that some on the radical left see this pandemic as a chance to expand the scope and power of the central...
View ArticleYoung people will pay for coronavirus – government must make it worth their...
It was said of the financial crisis that it was a once in a century event – and no doubt many of my generation hoped t it would be the only epoch-defining economic catastrophe we would live through....
View ArticleThe UK’s Covid testing is not good enough to stop a second wave
With the ONS announcing a probable uptick in new cases of coronavirus in the UK last week, the big fear now is of a resurgence in the virus sweeping across the country – as it is already doing in the...
View ArticleHow should free-marketeers respond to the threat of China?
There are many questions that will confront us once the pandemic finally ends, but near the top of the list will be the question of what to do about China. Whether it’s the inhumane way it treats its...
View ArticleGoing for Growth: how business can power the Covid recovery
Even before the pandemic hit, the British economy was bumping along, with sluggish growth, stagnant wages and productivity growth among the worst in the developed world. The Government had done a good...
View ArticleRail franchising might be over – but that should not spell the end of...
Amid the flurry of Covid news, yesterday’s announcement on the future of Britain’s rail network has gone somewhat under the radar. The announcement from Transport Secretary Grant Shapps is a pretty big...
View ArticleIncreasing the minimum wage would be a big mistake
Nowhere is the economic damage wrought by coronavirus more apparent than in the unemployment stats. Even with massive government support, the jobless rate is rising and now stands at 4.8%, an increase...
View ArticleThe Chancellor’s minimum wage move is a curate’s egg
Among all the many billions of pounds of spending yesterday, Rishi Sunak also announced that he was following the recommendations of the Low Pay Commission (LPC) and increasing the National Living Wage...
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